What Moisture-Wicking Means, and Why Sweat Wicking Clothing Is a Must In All Weather

If you’re going for a run, hike, or bike ride in hot weather, you owe it to yourself to have on a great sweat wicking shirt if you want to stay cool. Likewise, if you’ll be skiing, mountaineering, or trekking in the cold, you’d better have on wicking clothes if you want to stay warm.

How can moisture-wicking clothing keep you cooler and warmer? By getting sweat off your body ASAP.

Proper sweat wicking clothing performs two actions well: First, it draws moisture away from your skin thanks to a capillary effect. A good wicking shirt, pants, wicking base layers, socks, gloves, or a hat has in effect miniscule conduits (tubes, e.g.) that draw moisture into them and then expose it to the air.

Second, because moisture-wicking clothes draw moisture out to the surface, they also dry out quickly. Together, these effects allow your body’s best natural method of heat-regulation, namely sweating, to work. That’s because in order for sweat to cool you down, it has to be able to evaporate – thus why a 90-degree day in a dry heat is tolerable, but an 80-degree day in intense humidity can be miserable.

Wicking base layers also keep you warmer in cold weather by drawing sweat away from you, because as soon as you stop engaging in activity intense enough to produce that sweat, it will rapidly cool you down. And potentially chill you to the point where things are getting unsafe.

If you want to conduct your own field research on the benefits of sweat wicking clothes, first wait for a hot day and go for a three-mile run in a great wicking shirt – say, Janji’s Helio Tech Tee – and see how you feel. On the next hot day, log those miles in a basic cotton tee – chances are you’ll be dripping, the fabric will be sodden and clinging, and you’ll be less than thrilled.

Next, get yourself somewhere cold and go for a long, frosty hike or get in an afternoon of skiing wearing, say, a super soft Paka Apparel Baselayer shirt under your other apparel, then the next day get out there again wearing cotton, except don’t actually, because wearing improper gear in cold weather can be risky, so just trust us on this one. In other words, sweat wicking clothing is important because your comfort counts, but it can also be about safety out there.